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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28303191">Seal of the Confessional</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doctoring/pseuds/Doctoring'>Doctoring</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Deadpool - All Media Types, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man/Deadpool - Joe Kelly (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Religious, Anymore Tags Would Be Spoilers, Food Trucks, Handsome!Wade, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Religious Content, Religious Guilt, Still Some Scars Tho, lots of texting, priest!peter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:09:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,950</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28303191</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doctoring/pseuds/Doctoring</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Through a strange series of events and a burner phone, Father Parker begins to use information he hears in the confessional booth to tip off a certain scarred stranger for small favors within their community. His guilt over breaking the seal of the confessional starts to subside as he befriends Wade, growing closer to the man even with all the relentless flirting. But some people don’t take too kindly to their secrets being exposed, as Peter soon learns.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Peter Parker &amp; Wade Wilson, Peter Parker/Wade Wilson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Isn't it Bromantic?, Spideypool Priest Fest 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Seal of the Confessional</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>If you’re looking at the rating and thinking this is a priest-fucking fic, nope, it’s not. Their relationship is purely platonic (much to Wade’s disappointment).</p><p>That being said, the A/N warnings for this chapter includes: bullying.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The snow crunches underfoot as Father Parker trudges up the steps of the church early one February morning. He takes his time to kick his boots clean and dust off his winter coat, aiming to keep the church vestibule as dry as possible. As soon as he enters the church and slips into his office, a deacon comes scurrying inside.</p><p>“There’s someone here for confessional.”</p><p>Peter thanks the deacon as he hurries to swap his jacket for his robes, fastening the last part just in time to step into the confessional booth.</p><p>After he apologizes for the delays, Father Parker tells the person they may begin. He recognizes the voice immediately as one of the teens that regularly attends the church, although he hasn’t seen her in a couple of weeks.</p><p>The confession sounds like most other confessions he hears from someone this age: a slight hesitation to admit lying and lustful thoughts, perhaps a few occurrences of disobeying a parent or guardian, then the apology for sinning. However, before penance can be assigned, the teen speaks up again.</p><p>“Actually… Is it… is it a sin to be a bystander?”</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>The teen goes into a short spiel about going to Moonlight Diner with a friend and witnessing people harassing a waitress before taking her tips. She admits she was too scared to speak up against four boys and didn’t want to get roped up in something she assumed wasn’t her problem. But her friend told her that this wasn’t the first time something like this has happened, and now she feels guilty for not at least trying to help.</p><p>Father Parker pauses to think, trying to find that balance of Biblical guidance and personal safety, especially in a neighborhood this unsafe. He tells her that there is no sin in wanting to keep yourself safe and choosing your battles wisely, but in the future, perhaps find someone who can step in and help, especially if this is a repeated occurrence as she has indicated. She starts to say something about the adults at the diner not caring, but cuts herself off with, “I am sorry for these and all my sins.”</p><p>Deciding not to press the issue, Father Parker moves on with the confessional process by issuing out penance.</p><p>The issue at the diner slips from Peter’s mind until the following Monday when another teen, Jason, comes in for confession just as Father Parker is packing up to leave. He is one of the few that still attends regularly even after turning eighteen. However, his parents have expressed concern about his strange behaviors and staying out far too late with ‘unsavory characters’ as his mother calls them. Peter hasn’t noticed the difference himself, but realizes that many of the faithful show a different face in church than they do outside.</p><p>When Jason starts listing off his sins, he doesn’t go through the usual pattern Peter would expect, but instead admits first that he and his friends have been harassing girls from their school. He didn’t think anything of it until he noticed some of them getting out of hand with the behavior, and recently, one supposed friend took the tip money from a waitress all because he knows that the owner will turn a blind eye.</p><p>Without thinking, Peter interrupts. “Was this at the Moonlight Diner?”</p><p>Jason stutters for a moment before asking, “How did you know? Is this—Is this that divine intervention or whatever?”</p><p>Father Parker pinches the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “Not quite, but let’s go with that. So you were there at Moonlight?”</p><p>Jason’s calm and quiet demeanor changes into a more fretful and panicky one. He swears he never wanted to take it that far, not like his friends, and promises to never do it again. Father Parker has to remind him about the seal of the confessional when Jason starts pleading to not breathe a word to his stepdad.</p><p>Taking a chance, Father Parker asks how often his friends go to this diner, finding out that it’s nearly every other night. He keeps this in mind as they conclude the confession, wondering if he can help these other boys change their ways like Jason.</p><p>That evening Father Parker goes to Moonlight Diner. The place looks exactly like the diners Peter imagines his Aunt and Uncle would go to when they were teens. He assumes they might have even been here considering how old and run-down it looks in places. It’s not bad enough for him to question health code violations, but it does look to be the kind of restaurant where a kid or a teen can afford a cheap meal or loiter around after school. There are cheap Valentine's decorations hanging up, but the lights around the room are clearly Christmas ones, though they might have been up for more than one Christmas. However, he doesn’t spot any of the boys Jason’s age hanging around, so he leaves.</p><p>The next evening, Peter doesn’t spot them either. Part of him wants to believe that perhaps all of them feel guilt and have turned from their old ways on their own, but he knows better than that.</p><p>The next day, Peter ends up staying at the church far too late. It’s nearing 11:00 p.m. by the time he leaves. He is completely exhausted but has a feeling that he should check out the diner one more time.</p><p>Peter watches his steps in the snow as he approaches the diner and only glances up when the neon sign illuminates his path, turning the snow a bright blue color. Immediately, he spots a few boys stepping into the diner and making a beeline towards the far-left corner where a waitress is clearing a table. His feet slide beneath him as Peter tries to run into the diner, causing him to stumble up the three short steps. As soon as he enters, he hears the waitress telling one of the boys to get out but using a few choice words Father Park would never utter himself. He looks towards the kitchen and hears the first boy who entered make a statement about a lack of adult figures to enforce such a demand. There appears to be no one else here aside from a couple at the high-top, who chose that very moment to leave. Peter glances behind him and sees a large man standing half out of his seat in the booth. He’s glancing over at the teens but doesn’t seem to be making any further attempts to stop them.</p><p>Filled with righteous fury, Peter marches towards the teens, but can feel his steps falter as he gets closer.</p><p>
  <em>What do they feed children in schools these days!? Jason’s a little bigger than me, yet he’s clearly the runt of this group.</em>
</p><p>When the waitress makes eye contact with Peter while yanking her arm free from one of the boys’ grip, she gives him a pleading look, and Peter’s determination returns anew.</p><p>Attempting to step between her and the three boys there, Father Parker says, “Excuse me! That is no way to treat someone!”</p><p>“Do you want to be next?”</p><p>Father Parker cannot respond before all three boys start taunting and threatening him, the voices all mingling together. Just as the waitress manages to escape behind the counter, the largest of the group shoves at Peter roughly, knocking him into the high-top chair behind him. The boy reaches out to shove Peter again, but his arm is caught by another hand that reaches out from Peter’s left side. Everyone seems to freeze in place as the large man from the booth steps between Peter and the teens.</p><p>The man barely peers over his right shoulder at Peter when he says, “You might want to take a few steps back, cutie.”</p><p>Peter side steps around the edge of the high-top, away from the man, almost instinctively. He hears the largest teen mouth off to the stranger but doesn’t immediately register the words. He’s too distracted by the scars he can now see on the left side of the man’s face. Peter’s eyes follow the scarring from his left ear down to the base of his neck, just before the man turns his back to him. Peter realizes that more than the scars have left his field of vision now. The man in his winter coat is large enough to block out one of the teens completely. From this angle, it looks as though only two boys are staring at him from either side while a mysterious voice continues to taunt.</p><p>“I can’t get my order taken because you’re harassing someone who doesn’t even make minimum wage. And before I can do anything about it, you start shoving my friend here for no reason whatsoever. So, what do you think we should do about this?”</p><p>“Fuck off, old—”</p><p>The teen gasps as the man takes a large step towards him and unzips his coat. No more words are spoken, and it seems as though no one is moving aside from the subtle rustling coming from the scarred man. However, the boys that Peter can still see look terrified.</p><p>After a few beats, the man speaks. “Now then, let’s try this again.” He steps forward once more and one of the teens tries to back up, falling into the seat of a booth behind him. “You’re going to apologize to both of them for being absolute scum, then you’re going to leave and reflect on your life choices before you do something stupid and end up like the guy who did this to me.” Peter can see the man gesture to his face before he hunches closer and rasps out, “May God rest his soul.”</p><p>As the teens scramble to get past the man towering over them and out of the diner, Peter hears the full spectrum of their reactions. There’s an apology, there’s incoherent shouting, and then there’s quite the string of colorful terms directed at the scarred stranger. Peter turns and watches the boys leave, startling when he feels a hand heavy on his shoulder.</p><p>“You good?” The man’s face is unreadable. When Peter nods he asks, “You sure you’re good?”</p><p>“Uh, yes.”</p><p>The man beams at him, flashing all his teeth as the skin around his eyes wrinkle.</p><p>“Good. Wait right here.”</p><p>Peter feels as though he doesn’t have a choice, seeing as the man’s hand is still on his shoulder. Even if it wasn’t, Peter’s mind is stuck on the ‘God rest his soul’ comment. For a minute there, he was worried the man actually did something to warrant such a remark. He’s currently trying to write it off as a scared straight tactic like he’s seen done before during trips to the precincts and school assemblies.</p><p>
  <em>But those always end in jail, death, or death in jail… not scars and hints of dying by the hands of the speaker.</em>
</p><p>Meanwhile, the large man turns his head to see if the waitress is all right. After asking once more, he says, “If you’re sure, you mind getting me some pancs with blueberry syrup?”</p><p>The stranger removes his hand from Peter and pulls out his wallet, handing several bills to the woman. “That should cover that and whatever he’s getting.” The scarred man gestures lazily towards Father Parker. “You can keep the rest.”</p><p>The waitress spins towards Peter who just waves her off. “Go ahead and get those… Pancs?” Peter turns towards the hulking man. “Pancs? Were you saying pan<em>cakes</em>?”</p><p>The man turns towards Peter and smirks. “Indeed, I was.” He extends a hand as he says, “M’name’s Wade. And you are?”</p><p>“Peter.” He takes the hand hesitantly and is met with a firm but brief grip.</p><p>“Well, Peter…” Wade bites his bottom lip as he gives Peter a once over. He then jerks his head towards the large paper heart hanging over the register. “Guess cupid came early.”</p><p>Peter gapes awkwardly, unsure of how to respond, not expecting such a comment from the same man who just frightened away bullies a minute ago.</p><p>"You, uh, do a lot of good Samaritan work? You know, fighting bullies? Sticking up for the downtrodden?”</p><p>“I, uh, I guess. I try at least.”</p><p>“I’m guessing you’re not used to the tougher side of it, like dealing with physical altercations?”</p><p>Peter sighs and lowers his gaze until he’s looking straight ahead. He realizes that he is eye-level to Wade’s chest. He then looks over at one of Wade’s arms.</p><p>
  <em>He’s wearing a coat, so I can’t tell, but I’m certain his bicep is as big as my thigh.</em>
</p><p>Father Parker gestures to himself as he looks back up at Wade’s face. “Not exactly built for that, am I?”</p><p>Wade chuckles deep and low. “That’s fine. The heart’s still there. But, uh…” Wade then reaches into his inside coat pocket, fiddling with a few items before pulling out an old Nokia brick phone. He holds it out to Peter as he says, “Use this and call if you ever need my help for something like that. Or help with anything at all. Heck, shoot me a message if you just wanna grab coffee together.”</p><p>Peter takes a step towards the diner door. “I really don’t think—I should—it’s late. I should be—”</p><p>Wade gently grabs his arm and pulls him back in. “Trust me. If you ever need anything, just call. My number’s already in there.” He presses the phone into Peter’s hand. “But two things. NEVER use that phone for anything else but to call me for favors. And please stay safe. Don’t know what I’d do if someone tries to hurt a pretty little thing like you.”</p><p>Desperate to leave and end this chaotic night, Peter thanks the man and hurries out of the diner.</p><p>He clutches the phone in his hands the whole time he speeds home, his anxiety high enough to distract him from the cold winter air stinging his face. Once inside his apartment, Peter tosses the phone on the carpet and roughly wipes his hands on his coat.</p><p>“What-what am I—AHH!”</p><p>Father Parker takes a moment to flail about before removing his bag, coat, and boots. He then picks up the phone between his index finger and thumb, carrying it cautiously to his coffee table. Setting it down gingerly, Peter realizes it looks just like the phone he had in high school that Uncle Ben told him to only use in case of emergencies.</p><p>He paces the living room, his mind replaying the events of the night as he sneaks glances over to the phone every few steps. Eventually, his curiosity gets the better of him, and he picks up the phone, turning it on. He checks the recent call log and messages, finding nothing there, but he does find one contact in the phone, “D,” with an area code that he doesn’t recognize.</p><p>
  <em>Why does it say ‘D’ if his name is Wade? Maybe it’s—</em>
</p><p>“WHAT AM I DOING!?”</p><p>Peter drops the phone down onto the couch before snatching it back up and attempting to wipe his prints off of it. He spends the next several minutes sorting through all his paranoid thoughts of what will happen if he trashes the phone or tries to get the police involved. This eventually turns into regret over trying to take matters into his own hands involving information he heard during confession.</p><p>
  <em>Then again, it was an issue that needed to be resolved. Just not by me. However…</em>
</p><p>Peter feels the temptation rise to take Wade up on his offer. He carries the phone with him as he starts to prepare for bed.</p><p>
  <em>Wade did get them to stop and run off. He’s more suited for dealing with these kinds of problems than I ever will be. But I can’t exactly expect that from him or anyone else without breaking the seal of the confessional.</em>
</p><p>Making up his mind for good, Peter drops the phone into the wastepaper basket under his desk.</p><p>That Friday, a deacon approaches Peter in his office, informing him that one of the youths in the church has been hospitalized. Father Parker feels his heart drop in his chest when he hears Jason’s name. As the deacon tries to explain that they plan to visit him the next day, Peter stands and announces that he’s leaving that instant to see him.</p><p>As Peter sits next to Jason, he feels sick with grief at the sight of him. Jason explains that he was jumped by his former friends when they assumed that he snitched on them.</p><p>“Why would they think that?”</p><p>Jason reveals that around the time of his confession, they were doing more than just harassing wait staff and stealing petty cash. Ever since they started hanging around some older adolescents at a club, the bullying morphed into acts of outright violence. He’d wanted to cut ties, and that must have been a red flag for them. So the second something bad happened to them, they assumed it was because Jason had snitched.</p><p>Peter hesitates to ask what happened to his former friends, worried that it has something to do with the events at Moonlight Diner, but Jason only gestures vaguely with his arm not in a cast. “Not a clue. Didn’t find the time to ask them while they…” he trails off and gestures to his bruised face.</p><p>As he talks with Jason more about what landed him in the hospital, Peter realizes that there will be no retribution. It’s the word of five boys versus one, with no additional evidence unless Jason wants to risk implicating himself in a few minor things. “If I go to the police, there’s a chance that nothing will happen to them except alerting them to the fact that I indeed snitched this time, and I’ll probably just get jumped again. Or worse.”</p><p>All of a sudden, Father Parker remembers the phone Wade handed to him, realizing that a similar scenario might have played out if he had contacted the police instead.</p><p>
  <em>What would I have said? This looks shady? It’s not exactly a crime but here you go?</em>
</p><p>The atmosphere is still heavy when Father Parker prays over Jason, asking for a speedy recovery and for the Lord’s protection. As soon as he says ‘amen,’ the teen sheepishly admits that he feels like a prayer for safety isn’t going to cut it, not when he flinches each time someone comes through the hospital room door.</p><p>The thought that Jason doesn’t even feel safe in the hospital sticks with Peter as he heads back to the church. Halfway there, he stops on the sidewalk and prays for guidance on what he’s about to do. After a brief pause, he turns around and heads home.</p><p>He doesn’t even bother to remove his coat before he digs the burner phone out of the waste basket. As he dials the sole contact, Peter heads out again.</p><p>“Well, isn’t this a pleasant surprise!”</p><p>Peter’s taken aback by the quick pick-up and cheery voice.</p><p>“Hello? Peter? You there?”</p><p>“Yes! Sorry! Hello.”</p><p>“There you are!” Wade chuckles. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”</p><p>“Do you think you can meet me in the Westend Park in about twenty, twenty-five minutes?”</p><p>“Hm. Make it thirty and I’ll be there.”</p><p>Father Parker goes to the park and finds an empty bench. As he sits down, he pulls out an Agatha Christie novel he recently checked out from the library. He’s nearing the end where Hercule is pointing out all the red herrings before revealing the murderer but is startled by a voice before he can read the conclusion.</p><p>“You’re… you’re a priest!?”</p><p>Peter jerks his head up to see Wade gaping at him looking almost crestfallen. As Wade raises a finger to point at Peter’s throat, Father Parker reaches up to feel that his scarf has slipped low enough to show his collar.</p><p>“I am. Is that a problem?”</p><p>“I mean… I feel like I just got dumped for God! I’m completely heartbroken.” Wade plops down next to Peter on the bench. “However, I’m also thinking of how <em>fun</em> this might be, so I’m just gonna stick with those latter thoughts.”</p><p>Father Parker does not like the look Wade is giving him. But the sly smirk soon disappears as Wade reaches into his pocket and pulls out a charger for the burner phone. “Figured you might need this. So, tell me how I can help you?”</p><p>Peter starts to explain as much of Jason’s situation as he can without revealing the parts of the story told in confession. The more details he gives, the more he realizes that Wade is not one to mask his emotions. His set jaw and steady gaze make Peter feel like Wade is more upset by this turn of events that anyone else who actually knows Jason.</p><p>Once Peter finishes explaining everything, Wade stands. “I’ll take care of it.”</p><p>“What do you mean? How will you—”</p><p>“Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.” Wade walks off without looking back at Peter.</p><p>“You’re not going to—I mean—They will be all right, right?” Peter calls after him to no avail.</p><p>The following Monday, Father Parker finds out that Jason will need a minor operation on his hand, so he rushes to the hospital to pray over him before he goes into surgery. He walks briskly into the room and is surprised to see Jason looking chipper as he chats with one of the nurses.</p><p>“You seem stoked about getting a few pins and screws put in your hand.”</p><p>“Not really,” Jason laughs. “But I was just informed that those guys got their just desserts.”</p><p>Father Parker panics internally at what that might entail as he asks Jason to elaborate.</p><p>“Turns out the teens were caught on two different security cameras mugging and assaulting someone. But what’s weird is that not only did someone tell the fuzz to check the cameras, but the cameras were not facing the right way. Like, they were filming a part of the streets they don’t typically face. I don’t get that part, but all I know is that two of them are facing jail time and another is facing juvie, so… I can breathe a little easier, at least for a while.”</p><p>Peter smiles to himself as Jason starts asking the nurse with the clipboard more questions about the procedure.</p><p>As soon as Peter goes home, he tries to throw away the burner, feeling that he shouldn't involve Wade anymore, especially since he’s toeing the line of breaking the seal of the confessional. However, he can’t stop thinking about the way in which the teenagers were caught. He admits it is clever, but he’s still concerned because someone was assaulted.</p><p>Peter walks away from the trash can and sits on his couch, typing a message to Wade. He asks him if he moved the cameras and gets a reply within seconds.</p><p><em>D</em>: Part of the trap.</p><p>Peter asks him about the victim.</p><p><em>D</em>: Part of the bait. He’s fine. Was padded.</p><p><em>D</em>: Plus, he volunteered.</p><p><em>Why would anyone want to volunteer to</em>—<em>No! I’m not even going to ask!</em></p><p>Father Parker stands and tries to trash the phone again, but a voice in his head is telling him he should hold on to it.</p><p>
  <em>Just in case… wait… in case of what?</em>
</p><p>After a beat, he goes into the bedroom and plugs the charger into the phone.</p><p>
  <em>Maybe I should hold onto it until the teens are convicted. Then I can trash it.</em>
</p>
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